What exactly counts as a "ghost gun" under federal law-and who has the authority to regulate them?
In Bondi v. VanDerStok, the United States Supreme Court confronted one of the most consequential regulatory questions of the modern firearms era: whether federal law permits the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to regulate unfinished firearm parts, kits, and receiver blanks that can be converted into functioning weapons.
Chasing Ghost Guns presents a carefully edited and annotated version of the Supreme Court's opinion, designed to help readers understand the legal reasoning behind the Court's decision and the broader regulatory framework governing firearms in the United States.
Rather than reproducing the opinion exactly as issued, this edition restructures the decision with clear headings, explanatory notes, and contextual references that make the Court's analysis easier to follow. Key statutory terms, legal doctrines, and historical precedents are explained through an integrated glossary and references to important cases interpreting the Gun Control Act, federal firearms regulations, and related statutes.
Readers will learn:
• How federal law defines a firearm, receiver, and frame;
• Why unfinished parts and ghost gun kits have become central to modern firearms regulation;
• How the ATF interprets and enforces the Gun Control Act's tracing system; and
• How the Supreme Court evaluates statutory interpretation, agency authority, and administrative law challenges.
This edition is designed for lawyers, law students, policy analysts, journalists, and anyone seeking a clear guide to one of the Supreme Court's most important firearms regulation cases.
By presenting the Court's reasoning in a structured and accessible format, Chasing Ghost Guns transforms a dense judicial opinion into a readable guide to the law governing ghost guns, unfinished receivers, firearm kits, and federal gun regulation in the United States.
